The state convention’s disaster relief team wants to see more young adults and college-aged students join their work as volunteers.
Efforts to train students began a few years ago but slowed in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic put a pause on all of Baptists on Mission’s (BOM) training events. Regional trainings resumed this spring, with virtual options for volunteers seeking recertification. BOM is again focusing on cultivating a new generation of volunteers, said Tom Beam, disaster relief coordinator for BOM.
In January, BOM will conduct a one-day training on the Saturday of a collegiate missions retreat. It will be the first time BOM will host a training session during an already existing event. They’re also working with The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham to coordinate a one-day training event in 2022.
Tom Knight, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina’s (BSC) interim team leader for collegiate partnerships, said many college students are “looking for practical ways to express their faith.”
“Being able to paint a house, serve a meal or pray with someone who has experienced a catastrophic loss is a great way to be the hands and feet of Jesus. It is important that college students have the opportunity to gain the training they need to participate in various ways of service.”
Knight told the Biblical Recorder that he sees a need for an “intentional effort” to train young adults for opportunities to serve their communities alongside their churches.
“I believe it is important for college students to be involved in multi-generational communities, and this training allows them to serve through their churches.”
Most current volunteers are retirees who participate in projects for about four to seven days a week. They often, through word of mouth, recruit friends to sign up for training and volunteer shifts, Beam said.
Beam has found it to be a challenge to get younger volunteers involved – understandably, he said, because of commitments to family, jobs and school. He wants to encourage active volunteers to emphasize short-term opportunities too when they tell others about disaster relief and invite fellow church members to join their efforts.
“We can recruit volunteers who can only go for a day,” Beam said.
Recovery efforts – cleaning out homes and cutting down trees – following natural disasters are one area where new volunteers and young adults can efficiently serve.
“That’s the group that we can take the most untrained volunteers right after a disaster because it’s easy to train someone to tear something out,” he said.
Food preparation and feeding, on the other hand, require more people and multi-day commitments, often a minimum of four.
Ministries like administration, chaplaincy and childcare require greater equipping, with the latter two needing training that is specific to addressing shock and stress.
According to Beam, new volunteers also learn about opportunities from prior involvement in BOM’s Shelby and Red Springs mission camps and the rebuild centers in Lumberton, New Bern and Rose Hill, which serve as ministry hubs for long-term projects. Others gain exposure from participating in dental and health screenings.
For many students, interaction with current volunteers encourages them to do similar work. The meals at Deep Impact student mission camps, for example, are prepared by disaster relief volunteer teams. The BOM team also uses social media and email communication to publish calls for volunteers as needed.
When Todd Unzicker, BSC executive director-treasurer, first addressed N.C. Baptists after his election in May, he also listed as one of his priorities a goal to mobilize more disaster relief volunteers.
“Disaster relief is the tip of the gospel spear as Christians serve communities affected by tragedy,” Unzicker told the Recorder. “Baptists on Mission is known for its devoted, selfless volunteers. It’s important that N.C. Baptists raise up another generation of volunteers in that mold. I want to see this critical ministry continue – and multiply – for decades to come.”
To learn more about volunteer opportunities, training events or information about missions conferences and rallies, visit baptistsonmission.org.